Matthew 28:18-20. The premise of the Great Commission, which is extended to us all in the church age, is that His power and presence is with us and therefore, we are told to go, teach, make disciples and baptize them in His name. God bless us all in this all-important mission & purpose. Amen!
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Comments(2)
JPS says:
November 30, 2023 at 5:28 amPastor Graham, how to answer the Church of Christ who believe strongly that water baptism is essential for salvation? Thanks. JPS Malaysia
Graham King says:
November 30, 2023 at 9:57 amHi Dear JPS,
Thank you for your question. The short answer is from clear Bible verses that say that it is through believing that a person is saved.
Once you include water baptism as a condition for salvation, you are including a work, something a person must DO to be saved.
And we are clearly not saved by any work that we must do, but only by faith.
Salvation happens in a moment of faith when we are born again, the outward water baptism is simply a symbolic outward expression of that which has already happened in a persons heart and life. right?
The belief that baptism is necessary for salvation is also known as “baptismal regeneration.”
Baptism illustrates a believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
Romans 6:3-4 “don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” The action of being immersed in the water illustrates dying and being buried with Christ. The action of coming out of the water pictures Christ’s resurrection and the new life given. Water baptism is an important step of obedience after salvation but cannot be a requirement for salvation.
There are some verses that seem to say baptism is needed for salvation. However, since the Bible so clearly tells us that salvation is received by faith alone (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5), there must be a different interpretation of those verses. Scripture does not contradict Scripture. In Bible times, a person who converted from one religion to another was often baptized to identify conversion. Baptism was the means of making a decision public. Those who refused to be baptized were saying they did not truly believe. So, in the minds of the apostles and early disciples, the idea of an un-baptized believer was unusual. When a person claimed to believe in Christ, yet was ashamed to proclaim his faith in public, it indicated that he did not have true faith.
If baptism is needed for salvation, why would Paul say, “I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius” (1 Cor 1:14)? and “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel (1 Cor 1:17)? Also, when Paul gives outline of the gospel (1 Cor 15:1-8), why does not even mention baptism? If baptism is a requirement for salvation, how could any presentation of the gospel lack a mention of baptism?
What do you think?